I stumbled upon the Gothic series as well as Risen by accident. Difference was that when I first saw Risen I had never heard of it before, but as soon as I noticed who had developed it, having played Gothic games many times, I bought it then and there.
I love the Gothic games, Gothic 2 being my favourite and 3, well...it was okay I guess. What was the first thing you killed in Gothic 3? An orc. Compare that with the other two games, and there's the difference between them. Gothic 1 and 2 made you think very carefully which monsters you fought if not strong enough. If you weren't ready you weren't ready, and still the thrill of exploring the world sucked you in and dared you to approach those dangerous areas anyway.
That feeling and atmosphere was also in Risen 1 and, I guess, in Risen 2 though 2 was so much easier. Risen 1 is my favourite. The gameplay, the story, the music...I love it! And I've yet seen more beautiful sunsets in a game. I love that it's also about skill.
On my second playthrough of Risen I leveled quite a lot before even placing a skillpoint. I defeated Brogar and others much stronger than me with a stick. They took quite a few strikes before going down, always with the risk of him landing one blow and ending the fight. How come? Because of skill, and this is what old Gothic games and Risen is about. You seem overwhelmed at the start, but be patient and hang in there and you pull through, and have fun while at it. In Risen it was about learning how to dodge correctly and avoid being flanked. I'm not bragging, it took some trial and error I tell you(those damn wolves for example got on my nerves), but the game rewarded me for learning how it worked. As a gamer you just got to love that.
These games allow you to learn and master them. If you are patient enough to learn that is. Apparently many gamers aren't that patient or...interested to be honest, which always makes me wonder why they even buy the games, if only to complain when they can't play them, and then demand a dumbing down.
I'd recommend those people to find themselves a railshooter, a game you can't get lost in. Gothic and Risen don't cater to those players, and they refuse to dumb their games down. Few devs dare to go their own way today, as they are afraid of lack of sales, which is understandable.
Knowing that I enjoyed Gothic and Risen games, hearing about Risen 3 made me smile.
I liked the pirate theme of Risen 2, but I'm actually completely okay with Risen 3 going back to Risen 1 fantasy themes, with medieval armour and magic.
Whatever they do however, it's a day one purchase for me.
The hell is wrong with the guy doing the preview?
Right? :ermm: I don't know, maybe he thinks he's a pirate? I just couldn't watch more than a minute with that racket going on. Just the thing that he's reading all the company names out loud assuming that, what, we can't read for ourselves? And in that voice! And then things got too fast for my German language skills to keep up. Das ist nicht gut, und ich kann nicht so schneller sprachen verstehen. My German is a bit rusty, but still.
I will watch it though....some other time...when I have the energy. And I'll mute the bastard. So there. Moahahaha back at ya, crazy german pirate presenter! Hope the vid has some nice gameplay footage..and I'll make my own narration of it. Haha! :dry:
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